The War At Home
by NifadaDraculEadred
Summary: It's been almost a full year since Jeremy moved in with the Salvatore brothers under Damon's legal guardianship and after a lousy summer, with Elena away at college, Bonnie lost in Europe and Kol as his new best friend, the young boy is bound to be faced with the worst senior year of his lifetime.
1. A Summer In Hell

It was a warm Monday afternoon in the heart of summer and Damon Salvatore had been pacing around the house since early in the morning, being far from pleased. His nerves had been wrecked for the last fifty years of his existence but lately his mood had been a little snappier than usual, so when he burst into Jeremy's bedroom that day without first knocking, Stefan didn't bother stopping him.

He strolled past the boy lying on the bed and headed straight for the curtains which he pulled wide open with a sharp move.

"Get up" he spoke in his commanding officer voice that he so much enjoyed to use on the boy.

Jeremy turned irritably onto his stomach, and threw himself face down against the pillow, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight like a vampire who hadn't yet managed to score a daylight ring.

"Go away" he groaned.

Damon walked around the bed and seizing the pillow from under Jeremy's head, he threw it over to the other side of the room.

"Get up" he repeated, "I'm not Stefan, Jer, this won't be pleasant"

Knowing from previous experiences that this was far from an empty threat, Jeremy sat up on the bed, his arms crossed grumpily over his chest.

"What do you want from me?" he moaned in a whiny sort of voice.

"It's two o'clock" Damon informed him, thinking that this should mean something to the teenager who had spent most of his summer vacations under a blanket, weeping like a girl.

It didn't.

"So?"

"So," the vampire intoned, "you have two choices, either you get dressed and go outside or—"

"I'll take option number two" Jeremy cut him off with a loud yawn and fell back on his bed to resume doing nothing for the rest of the day as a part of his 'I'm-bored-and-alone-and-super-depressed' act.

Truth was he already knew what option number two was going to be. Damon was a man of his word as Jeremy came to discover in a particularly unpleasant way, especially when the promise given could be also described as a threat.

Since the day Jeremy had moved into the Salvatore boarding house with Damon as his legal guardian a little less than a year ago, Damon's favorite threat to use on his ward had become: "Military camp in Texas can't wait to meet you".

And sure enough the day after the beginning of summer vacations Jeremy found himself on an airplane to Texas, over to the Military base camp for troubled boys run by Sergeant Armstrong, an old vampire that Damon met during the war.

Sending Jeremy off to a Military academy for the summer was a decision backed by all the three people that for some reason felt like they had a saying in Jeremy's life: Damon, Stefan and of course Elena. All three of them waved Jeremy goodbye on his way to Texas, hoping that when the boy was returned he would have magically transformed into a functional teenager that could spent longer than a day without setting the house on fire.

It took Jeremy precisely seventy-two hours and twenty-three minutes to prove _everybody _wrong.

Less than three and a half days after Jeremy joined the BMP ('Behavior Modification Program'), the Salvatore residence received a very interesting phone call.

Apparently, to Stefan's terror, Jeremy's social skills had improved beyond recognition and according to a very angry Mayor of Houston, Texas and an equally pissed Sergeant Armstrong, Jeremy had somehow managed to convince every single one of his twenty-two roommates to join him in a protest.

The protest, as Jeremy later explained trying to suppress a grin, originally started because of three major unresolved issues with the first one being the food quality of the camp that after Stefan's home cooking appeared less than unsatisfactory. The second issue was the bathroom schedule, in addition to the five o'clock daily wake up call, but even if he ever managed to look past the two previous issues for the sake of everybody, the third one came as a shove in the back to push him for good over the edge.

The moment Jeremy heard that all new cadets would be forced to shave off all their hair; he instantly knew he couldn't sit tight like a good boy for much longer.

He immediately ran to his shared room and convinced every single one of the cadets that the rules of the camp were against basic human rights and remarkably fast he created a riot.

It was no surprise how unleashing seven dozens of teenagers with issues big enough to land them in Military camp in the first place, could only end in one way. One very bad way.

After the cadets finished vandalizing the base camp and terrorizing the staff with the guns Jeremy so thoughtfully unlocked for them from the weapon storage after vervaining Sergeant Armstrong, the riot went on the streets where they sure enough got arrested within an hour and got sent to townie jail.

Though nobody was injured, every finger in the room was pointed at young cadet Gilbert when asked who started this?

On the next day, Jeremy was sitting by himself in the airport, waiting for his flight back to Mystic Falls, in order to be saved from all the fellow Texan citizens who couldn't help but treat Jeremy as if he was the anti-Christ, while in the meantime, Damon was e-mailed a large list of property damage that was bound to be paid.

After the incident, Damon's new favorite threat became, "One more word and I'll compel you down to Texas" though now, a month later, it was just enough for him to simply say "Texas" for Jeremy to know exactly where he was getting with this. And normally Jeremy would be petrified of having to go back in that hell hole, but somehow even the Texans who waited to beat him up senseless seemed like fun, considering that his boredom level had reached infinity.

"You don't know what option number two is" an evil smirk came across Damon's face.

"Oh, but I do" Jeremy twisted uncomfortably in his bed, "tell Sergeant I can't wait to see him again"

The smile didn't falter on Damon's face, if anything it became wider.

"You have one hour to take a shower, get dressed and go outside or I'll bring Stefan right in here" he paused for a dramatic effect, "and he's been dying to discuss college applications with you"

Jeremy's eyes sprang open in pure horror. Stefan had been after him for weeks trying to get him to decide his future, which was by a long shot a lot more horrific than spending a couple hours outside of the house.

"I'm up…" he muttered, rolling out of the bed to the floor and dragged his feet forcefully toward the bathroom.

* * *

Coming out of the shower and after he got dressed, Jeremy wore a thick jacket though the weather was far from requiring one. The real reason behind the jacket was that Jeremy never in fact intended to go outside. While in the shower he had enough time to come up with a plan to sneak out in the garden with his laptop hidden underneath his clothes and hide for the next couple hours until he was caught.

Innocent and naïve Stefan was so glad to see him stepping out of the house, he didn't even question the jacket in the middle of July nor the bump sticking out of it and simply watched Jeremy as he strolled out of the house and off to the real world.

He was lucky enough to go out of sight without finding himself face to face with Damon for he assumed the vampire was probably in the garage. Lately he's been spending a lot of his time in that part of the house and though technically Jeremy was never denied access, he knew better than to interrupt Damon's evil super-mystical project that he and Stefan liked to refer to as: "_Another attempt to make this world a far worse place_" for there was absolutely no doubt that whatever Damon's new hobby was, it would end up blowing up to ashes an entire country.

During his stay in the Salvatore mansion and in order to survive while holding on to his sanity, Jeremy had discovered tons of little locations in the Salvatore property that could be used as the perfect hide out whenever he needed one.

One of his favorites, hence the code name 'batcave', was the hollow trunk of an old oak tree behind the tool shed that was far enough from the house to be out of the vampire earshot and yet close enough for him to not feel bored about walking the distance.

The 'batcave' was originally planted on 1914 when the Salvatore boarding house was first built. Now, a hundred years later, Damon and Stefan were hardly ever reminded of its existence and it was only when they debated whether or not to chop it off already.

The fact that the Salvatores disliked that oak was not the only reason why Jeremy loved it so much. Since the beginning of summer he had managed to transform it from a simple hole in the trunk of a tree to a real fort. He sneaked pillows, snacks, comic books and had spent days trying make it habitable. All, so every time the situation at home would reach the unbearable, he could hide somewhere fun.

He was there every other week.

The hole in the trunk was fairly big and certainly capable to fit easily at least three people of Jeremy's size so all he had to do was walk right in without having to bend in half or forcefully stuff himself inside like a thick coat in an overly full closet.

He sat down on the stack of fluffy pillows, revealed the laptop from under his jacket and hurriedly opened the screen, eager to check his latest e-mails.

Throughout the course of the previous school year, Jeremy had somehow succeeded luring two people into being his friends. One was his old buddy from Denver and the youngest member of the Original vampire family, Kol Mikaelson, who was now hiding from a lunatic, murderous sorcerer somewhere in Bahamas.

The second one was a girl he met in History class. Kylie Atkins was the proud protégé of a gay marriage who recently had lost one of her dads and was now travelling all around Europe as a part of her grieving process.

Though for the last four months both his friends had fled the country, Jeremy was still getting the occasional e-mail from Kylie where she ranted about all the places she visited and described in great detail every single one of the museums she went.

Kol on the other hand simply sent post cards, mostly as cruel mockery, since ninety-nine percent of them would come in a white file stained with what had to be human blood and inside it would always go something like this, "_Just slaughtered the Russian ballet, wish you were here_"

From the rest of his friends that had the ability to make those summer vacations a tad more tolerable were Matt and Tyler and that's if the two of them hadn't decided to spend their last summer before college by stalking Caroline.

Elena was rarely visiting him as well, but it was not entirely her fault. With college breathing down their neck, Caroline's organizing obsession went out of hand and managed to infect everybody who was brave to stay longer than two minutes in her company.

College was a big step for a young adult. A fresh start, a new adventure and a new romance, though for Caroline who was preparing for this day since the beginning of first grade, it meant a lot more than that. It meant an opportunity, a new chance at life.

Damon and Stefan though supportive and all, were discreetly trying to avoid them and were turned deaf remarkably fast every time somebody mentioned the word 'college' in front of them, for they were feared one might ask them to join.

Jeremy didn't know what their problem was. Stefan loved schools. He had two Masters, one from Harvard and one from Yale as well as a doctorate and three degrees in literature, science, and ironic as it was, psychology.

In Jeremy's mind Stefan was the one who should be begging to go back to school, unlike Damon who had only once compelled himself to Princeton in the 50's and after that he still couldn't shut up about how schools can't teach you nothing more than you can't teach yourself. After hearing those statements, both Stefan and Jeremy suspected he flanked out of Princeton but they never dared sharing those suspicions in Damon's presence.

* * *

It was two hours later when Jeremy's laptop battery died after what felt like five minutes of playing battlefield 4 and in no mood to face Damon or Stefan, he decided to finally go out of the house and have a walk. That should kill some time.

Time, he had so much free time on his hands and absolutely nothing to do with it.

He was done hoping to find new friends and should probably have dropped the quest years ago when during his first day of his freshman year in high school, a kid named Andrew Clearwater responded to his friendship request by calling him a _schmuck_.

Until this day Jeremy had no idea what Andrew meant by that, but he still should have taken the damn hint, because in all honesty, he was a _schmuck_ and every relationship he had established ever since then, one way or the other always ended catastrophically for every person even mildly involved. Vicky, Anna, Kol and Kylie being only some of the names on that list. For all he knew, friends were overrated and he was better off alone.

"Friends suck" he muttered bitterly, kicking a small rock on the street and watched it as it flew up from the ground before landing with a thud a few meters away.

It took five more steps for him to completely regret those words and change his mind, when at the end of the 55th main-street between an old antique store and a hipster cafeteria going by the name, "The Riddle" was standing a rather tall, lean young man with light brown hair and the most obnoxious little grin Jeremy had ever spotted on a person.

"I hear you got kicked out of Military school" cheered Kol Mikaelson, his eyes twinkling with pride at his friend.

* * *

**A/N**

**As probably few of you already realized, this is kind of a sequel to a previous story I wrote called "A Father For A Son". Though in order to read or understand this story having read the previous one is absolutely unnecessary as every minor detail featured from the original story will be addressed and explained.**

**Reviews are always welcomed but most importantly I would like to thank you all for reading :)**


	2. The Jump

Jeremy kept gasping wordlessly for a long minute before he simply closed his mouth and allowed Kol to lead him to the Grill that happened to be right around the corner.

Matt was not working his shift like he should and was probably helping Caroline pick out the colors for the walls of her dorm instead, or at least that's what they were doing last time anyone bothered to check.

Kol sat down first at a small round table by the corner, right between the bar and an open window, while Jeremy went over to get them drinks.

"I sent postcards" said Kol smugly with a little wink.

Normally Jeremy would roll his eyes at the memory of the disgusting blood-stained postcards Kol had indeed been sending over the course of the summer, but he was still in such awe from the sudden meeting that all he did was give him a barely distinct snort that could as easily be confused with a cough.

"Why are you here?" he sat in a chair across from Kol, "Isn't Alexandros still after you?"

Kol gave an involuntary shudder at the sound of the sorcerer's name that would so gladly kill him if given the chance.

"I don't think so" he said rather grumpily, "I could've catapulted myself on Mars and he would still find me if he wanted to"

"So he isn't looking for you?" assumed Jeremy, taking a sip from his bottle.

Kol frowned, clearly very displeased. Having the strongest sorcerer of all time breathing down your neck was a situation far from ideal, but it was yet preferable than being rejected and utterly ignored.

"News from Kylie?" he asked before Jeremy could go further into analyzing why Alexandros had stopped his search.

This time it was Jeremy's turn to frown at the topic. Though Kylie was polite enough to always find an hour or two to spare in order to share her whereabouts, she artfully avoided any mention about her feelings and emotional state after losing her father so recently. Instead, she would fill her e-mails with long descriptions of statues, art and buildings.

"She is in Italy and apparently now likes Donatello" he said moodily and joined his friend in a sigh.

After a beer which somewhat seemed to restore their spirits, a few military camp jokes and a couple dozen pool games –all of which he lost—Jeremy head home in a far better mood than the one he left it.

He was whistling and smiling happily and even greeted Stefan on his way to his bedroom, instead of moaning and ignoring him as he usually did.

Stefan, puzzled though he certainly was by that all so sudden change of heart, he didn't want to question a good thing and endanger ruining it and so he didn't say a word, unlike his brother who went after the boy.

"You look happy" he blocked Jeremy's way at the head of the stairs and scrutinized suspiciously the boy's grin, "what did you do?"

"Kol is back" Jeremy blurted out in the same excited tone and watched Damon's pale face turn into a discreet shade of purple.

Now, though Damon was well aware of the growing friendship between the sociopath baby brother of Klaus Mikaelson and his own protégé, that didn't necessarily mean he liked or had accepted it.

He still could remember as if it was yesterday the fulfilling sensation of relief that he felt in his heart the moment he heard that Kol would be forced to skip town once and for good and at last quit dragging Jeremy into more of his idiotic ideas (to be fair, Jeremy had plenty of his own). And here, four months later that obnoxious maniac was back to disturb the almost heavenly peace of Mystic Falls.

Having been raising Jeremy for a little less than a year now, Damon knew there were only two ways he could go about this. He could either tell Jeremy he was free to hang out with his thousand year old, serial killer buddy or he could give a dramatic speech about how Jeremy was forbidden by the Salvatore law to dare as much as think about Kol Mikaelson and focus on something more productive and less life threatening.

Damon, however, was old and witty enough to know that each of those ways could backfire directly into his and Jeremy's face at the most inconvenient moment and so he chose to create an option number three, which would later turn out to be the worst of all.

"You start training tomorrow" he announced in a very important tone and disappeared within the blink of an eye.

Before the whole Military camp fiasco, Damon was generously providing Jeremy with the only fun distraction of his dull days, which was his training. For two hours every evening after school, Damon and Jeremy would spend in the back yard shooting targets, beating up boxing bags, learning Morse code and whittling stakes. If it wasn't for Damon's periodical nerves and his inside need to constantly bossy him around, Jeremy would go ahead and call this the only fun he was allowed to have.

All up until he almost destroyed half the city of Houston and Damon was forced to pay an unspeakable amount of money in order to cover the entire property damage.

However, thanks to the few previous months, training had always been associated with something fun and pleasant in Jeremy's naïve brain, which one might had called ironic, considering that was exactly the opposite of what Damon had in mind while making that announcement.

No, Damon's intentions were far from rewarding Jeremy. He was punishing him without actually having to say the words and Jeremy would soon come to realize that, when Damon showed up in his bedroom the following morning at exactly four o'clock, demanding from him to get himself ready for work.

"You're joking…" he yawned, his vision still bleary but clear enough to notice that there was nothing funny about Damon's expression nor his tone.

"You got three seconds" Damon answered instead and left the bedroom, leaving the door open.

It might have been his tone or the fact that he didn't want to find out what would happen in three seconds in case he wasn't up and ready, but Jeremy sprang onto his feet fully awake and ran after Damon downstairs, while in the meantime trying to pull up a pair of pants.

* * *

Someone, somewhere, once said, "Free time on one man's hands is the beginning of disaster" or maybe I'm simply paraphrasing in order to capture accurately Damon's thoughts and emotions as he watched his young mini-me suffer through two long weeks of intense training.

Protecting Jeremy from his own bad decisions was in fact the only true reason behind the countless hours the boy would be forced to spend running through obstacle courses, climbing up ropes and doing pull-ups, but to Jeremy it sure felt like a lot more than that.

Jeremy would bet his head on the fact that Damon was simply taking out all his latest frustration on him as a way to punish him for every little mischief he had pulled in the past year. And so in order to appear strong and also live up to Damon's expectations, he did not complain once.

Okay, maybe once.

"You jump like a little girl with a leg cast" was the only comment Damon had to spare on the boy after observing absentmindedly Jeremy climb a seven meter rope, lift a fifty pound stone which he had to carry for over thirty yards, while jumping over some tires and all under three minutes.

"Ar— are y— you," Jeremy was down on his hands and knees, gasping for air, "_are you kidding me_?" he cried at last.

Damon wasn't kidding.

"Start again" he blew the whistle that was around his neck and looked strictly as Jeremy pulled himself up, gritting his teeth and muttering some very bad words under his breath.

Judging by Jeremy's level of physical exhaustion, the plan was working just fine, with Kol's name being now a fading memory in the boy's head, overshadowed by the excruciating pain in his muscles and the constant need to fall asleep while standing on both his feet.

It wasn't until two weeks later when Stefan decided to interfere for the first time.

"Don't you think you're a little harsh on him?" he asked one evening after watching a half-asleep Jeremy crawl slowly up the stairs to his bedroom.

It was no secret nor did it take a witch like Bonnie to know Kol meant trouble, especially with one of the strongest sorcerers on earth chasing after him, but he still couldn't see why they had to turn Jeremy's life into a living hell.

Damon threw a disdainful glare at him before jerking that day's newspaper open in front of his face and though words weren't exactly exchanged in that particular encounter, Stefan understood perfectly well the reason why his brother did what he did, even if he found his methods unorthodox and somewhat unfair.

* * *

It was the very first day of August when Jeremy lifted his eyelids wearily into the sound of his alarm, announcing the beginning of a brand new day of obstacle courses and pull-ups. Feeling as if he had just managed to fall asleep, he knocked down the clock with his fist and through bleary eyes watched it meet the floor with the dying sound of its alarm as the battery escaped from the open lid.

He pushed the warm and friendly blanket off his back and rolled out of bed into the cold, wooden bedroom floor and still half-asleep he proceeded mechanically into yanking up a pair of pants and a shirt that were left on his desk chair, probably by Stefan who usually handled his dirty laundry.

Once he finished dressing and before he head off to find Damon, his eye caught the window and for a mild second he stood completely still looking at the view. Everything was quiet and peaceful without a single car disturbing the streets. The gate, shinning under the bright orange light of the tall street-lamps was now appearing intimidating like a huge, fire-breathing dragon separating him from the freedom of the outside world and holding him a captive within his own home.

It was a well-known fact that all ideas, good or bad, are always born in the spirit of a very random moment. Like a man answering to the name Thomas Edison, who one typical evening in the Edison household while sitting under the romantic but yet somewhat depressing candlelight, probably thought to himself, "ey, what da heck, I'll invent light bulbs". Or that kid he saw the other day on the news, that jumped out of the fifth floor of his house in attempt to grow magical wings out of his back and fly like Iron man.

In the same random state of mind, the thing Jeremy did next sure felt like a good idea at the time, it wasn't.

He leaned closer and with a swift move yanked the lower sash of the window and pulled it right up, allowing the morning breeze and the sounds of the cool wind to disturb some of the papers laying on his desk and the quiet of his bedroom.

If later in life one would ask Jeremy what he was thinking while proceeding with his next act, the answer would be a plain, "nothing" for this was indeed the truth.

After Jeremy opened the window, he doubled himself in half and carefully climbed out of it, trying his best to be quiet.

Swiftly but with absolute method (thanks to Damon's training) he crawled all the way to the top of the roof, where he sat only for a split second to enjoy the view of the morning sun, painting the sky above his head bright orange against the fading shade of blue.

_I can jump that far_, is the last phrase one might say just before doing something exceptionally reckless and/or stupid.

"I can totally jump that far…" said Jeremy bracingly to himself as he spotted a tree located about half a dozen meters away from the edge of the roof and without spending too much time on thinking this through, he jumped.


	3. Whereabouts Unknown

A warm and sunny morning is usually an omen for a great day about to begin, unless you live in Africa where a warm and sunny day is nothing more than just a regular day, but in Jeremy's case not even the African climate could be taken as a good omen, considering that this day would most likely be his last.

By the time he reached the other side of the town, all the way to the Mikaelson estate, Jeremy had a painful sunburn at the back of his neck and a distinct mark on his forehead screaming: GUILTY.

He would have probably make it sooner to Kol's place if he decided to take the road instead of lurking through the woods like Bambi in order to keep himself out of sight and not endanger bumping into an angry Damon.

The Mikaelson residence was as usually guarded by a mass of compelled vampires and so when Jeremy got stopped in the entrance by an unnaturally large man, he didn't feel the need to scream or pull out the gun he always carried in his back pocket.

"Jeremy Gilbert" he said in a strong, clear voice and requested, "I'm here to see Kol"

The compelled vampire-bodyguard grunted in dismay and was just about to go inform Kol of his visitor when the front door snapped open and a particularly self-satisfied Kol jumped out in the pavement.

"I knew you'd come" he said in an obnoxiously self-admiring voice, clearly very pleased with himself for a reason Jeremy was unable to see, "Come in my child and seek for my forgiveness" he opened his arms wide like the creepy owner of a big white van.

Jeremy rolled his eyes; constantly throwing searching looks over his shoulder, feared for Damon might be closing in on him.

"Are you done?" he asked, watching Kol lower his arms moodily. "Good. I need your help"

It wasn't until Jeremy dragged Kol a mile away from his house to confess his latest minor crime. Kol didn't appear as excited as Jeremy would have normally hoped. In fact he seemed concerned, a look that most certainly didn't suit him.

"For how long do you think you can hide?" he asked in a dead serious voice that Jeremy had never heard him use before.

"Ideally, forever. Realistically –" he gulped, "I only bought me a couple hours head start"

"How?"

"I didn't hide any of my traces leading to your house, in fact I created as many as I could" answered Jeremy absentmindedly waving around a branch as if it were a sword.

"Are you an idiot?" he heard Kol screech at him in panic, "Why in bloody hell you would leave traces of you coming straight to me?"

"Come down, I have it under control" said Jeremy, waving his branch a little more frantically, "Damon is the one who trained me. He knows better than anyone I'm smart enough to cover my traces and every bit of evidence left behind is just an attempt to lure him into the opposite direction"

Kol blinked several times.

"You didn't cover your traces because that's what he would expect you to do?" he said in a heavy voice as if he was trying to suppress a snort, "that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard, and I have a long list"

Putting his troubles aside, Jeremy focused on Kol's tone.

"Are you scared of him or something?" he threw his stick aside and turned his head to face Kol, "because it sure sounds like it"

"Scared?" Kol gave a sharp laugh that reminded him the cry of an injured dog, "of Damon? Why would I be scared of Damon?"

"Because he owns the one and only stake in the world that can kill you?" suggested Jeremy innocently in the most matter-of-factly voice he could muster.

Kol didn't say anything and it wasn't for the lack of will, but Jeremy was right. Damon was the only person on earth to hold a white oak stake hidden in some place only he had access and that was enough of a reason to feel slightly uneasy if not scared.

The two of them walked through the woods, avoiding to be seen by unwanted eyes. They only stopped when they reached the road to think what should be their next move.

"We could skip town together!" Kol suddenly cried out, a little too excitedly. "Think about it! I have Alexandros coming after me—" he shivered at the name, ", and you have Damon. It will be epic!"

Jeremy raised his eyebrows as he watched his friend's eyes shine with the excitement of a five year old inside a candy shop.

"You have a weird definition of the word '_epic_'" he said mockingly, "I'll pass. Somehow I think that fleeing the country might piss Damon off"

Kol frowned and didn't even bother to hide it.

"You have a better idea?"

Truth was Jeremy did have a better idea. The only problem with that idea was that he sincerely doubted whether it would work.

"I have to see Bonnie" he said with a sigh.

* * *

Jeremy ran up the three patio steps and knocked twice on the door once he reached it, while Kol insisted to wait behind the fence. It had been a long time since he last visited Bonnie at her house and it was probably the reason why he felt as if he waited hours before Mr. Hopkins –Jeremy's principal and also known as Bonnie's dad— opened the door.

If Mr. Hopkins was glad to see Jeremy, he certainly hid it well or at least well enough to scare the boy.

"Jeremy, what brings you here?" he asked in a low tempered manner as if he was barely able to hold himself from snapping the door shut on the young boy's face.

"Umm…" Jeremy was caught by surprise. Not so much by the question rather than the unfriendly tone. He knew Mr. Hopkins since the day of his birth and though their relations were never anything more than one can have with the friend of his parents, they were always on good terms even while he was dating his daughter.

"Is Bonnie inside?" he decided to skip the small talk and cut right to the chase, hoping to leave the man's company as soon as possible.

The question though normal and plain, made the man cringe as if the boy in front of him had just mouthed the dirtiest, most outrageous insult in the whole wide world.

"No" he said flatly, breathing slowly through his nose, his nostrils flaring with intent.

Then Jeremy proceeded into asking the one and only question that could make his position worse.

"Will she be back soon?"

Principal Hopkins must had had enough for he took a step back and slammed the door directly in Jeremy's face.

"What was that about?" he heard Kol, who must've been able to hear every bit of the conversation due to his vampire hearing.

Jeremy didn't answer at once. His mind was still processing what had just happened. Why would Mr. Hopkins ever act as crazy as he just did and how was Bonnie involved in all of this.

"I don't know" he said truthfully, watching Kol step out of the bushes were he hid himself, in case Damon was around. It was that first moment when Jeremy suddenly realized he had no news of Bonnie all summer.

Elena and Caroline were so busy discussing their college life that about to begin, they rarely spoke about anything else. The only thing he could recall being said about Bonnie was that she would most likely lose her first semester due to—. Nobody mentioned the reason.

"I think Bonnie is in trouble" said Jeremy walking next to Kol, too lost in his thoughts to pay attention to where they were going, "I have to tell Damon"

Kol froze at once in the middle of the road and almost got run over by several cars.

"You can't be serious" he barked at Jeremy once the boy pulled him to the sidewalk. "Are you suicidal?"

"I have to tell him" said Jeremy decisively, "what if Bonnie is in trouble and nobody else knows?"

"How do you even know she is in trouble? The witch was not home, big deal"

"No…" said Jeremy dismissively shaking his head, "something is wrong"

Kol was not happy.

"All right, do as you please but I'm not going with you" he turned his head around and said dramatically, "Friendship over!" and peeked through the corner of his eye to watch Jeremy's reaction to that statement.

"You know, for a guy who is a hundred percent immortal, you sure are afraid of a lot of people" said Jeremy with a little grin; ready to watch Kol's head explode.

* * *

Jeremy was walking by himself in a swift pace directly toward the Salvatore mansion from where he had successfully escaped that very same morning,

He was just about to reach the first turn when an awfully familiar Chevy Camaro convertible coming from the opposite direction, flew right in front of him blocking his way.

The rest happened so fast that even when Jeremy later tried to place the events chronologically, he found the task to be fairly impossible.

A screeching sound and the smell of burning tires were the first he could remember as well as a male figure, hidden behind the white smoke of the fuming engine, jump out of the open car door and purposefully strive toward him.

"I can explain—" Jeremy started, raising his hands defensively but he was quickly interrupted by a not nearly-as-hard as he expected smack at the back of his head.

"Okay, I guess I deserve that" he groaned, watching Damon take a step closer to him so the two were only an inch apart and for a split second he was convinced a second blow was on its way. But Damon didn't hit him; instead he tightly seized Jeremy's face and stared at him intently with his x-ray-like eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked, a vain throbbing in his temple.

"Yeah—" Jeremy replied at once and was just about to introduce Bonnie's name to their conversation, when Damon cut him off once more.

"Good" he said flatly and with that smacked lightly the boy right across the face.

"I guess I deserve that too…" Jeremy breathed.

Damon lowered his hands and placed them strictly on his hips, matching perfectly his 'I'm-in-no-mood-for-nonsense' expression.

"How did you leave the house?"

A faint smile was just about to stretch on Jeremy's face when he caught Damon's murderous eye and chose to simply answer the question without giving the impression of being actually proud of the accomplishment.

"I may _or may not_ have climbed on the roof, jumped to a tree and then used the combat rope to climb over the fence" he said very vaguely as if these were memories he was recovering from a hundred years ago and were probably not even his own.

Damon's expression had changed despite himself to what seemed like disbelief, mixed with a generous doze of some weird kind of pride.

"Get in the car" he stretched his arm, pointing at the Camaro.

* * *

The ride home was painfully quiet with the two looking in opposite directions and not feeling obligated to start a conversation. It was moments like this when Jeremy was truly given the chance to spot the various differences between the two Salvatore brothers.

When Stefan was mad, he yelled. He yelled to the point he would forget the reason why he started yelling in the first place.

Damon, unlike his brother, in situations like this wouldn't say a single word, which in many ways was much worse for it was impossible to predict how he would choose to react.

Once they reached the house, Damon pulled the car to the driveway where he parked it out of the garage and nodded for Jeremy to stay put.

"Stefan thinks you went out for a walk, let's keep it that way" he said in a conspiratorial whisper.

Jeremy was particularly keen to avoid getting on Stefan's nerves. As school was just about to begin for his senior year, Stefan's neurological system seemed to be receiving a serious hit and he would never pass a good chance to discuss Jeremy's academic future. A discussion that was bound to inevitably end with screaming, threatening and a painful beyond words headache.

"Thanks" he breathed in relief, knowing that he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his summer vacations with Stefan buzzing over his ear like an annoying fly.

Damon was still pretty angry to have a further discussion with the boy and so before he had the chance to come up with a brand new cruel and unnatural punishment, Jeremy quickly came out of the car and even faster made it to him room.

He immediately opened his computer and without losing any time, wrote a very short message to Bonnie, in hope to appear vague and not merely suspicious about her disappearance.

He had to read and re-read his one line of an e-mail at least five times, before he felt satisfied with it, enough to press the sent button, which he regret precisely two seconds later when there was nothing he could do to take it back.

In the next three hours, Jeremy must've checked his inbox more than a hundred times for an answer from Bonnie and it wasn't until later that night when he got tired of all the waiting and crept downstairs to find Elena in the living room, accompanied by Stefan. He looked miserable. Probably because Elena was trying to force him go towel shopping, an activity Stefan was not looking forward to.

"But we have a movie night planned already" he said guiltily, pointing at Jeremy who was just about to open the TV.

_Movie night_, in the Salvatore mansion was a code for "I have absolutely no intention to do whatever it is that you're suggesting", that all the three current residents used whenever someone, including Elena, would come asking for a crazy and pointless favor such as picking furniture for college dorms and giving opinions on "cute skirts".

"Oh, what are you guys watching tonight?" asked Elena a bit suspiciously, as this happened to be the fifth movie night they had this week.

"Star wars" Jeremy screamed out from the couch and it would be the perfect answer if only Stefan hadn't given a different one already.

"The aveng—" Stefan's eye twitched guiltily the moment Jeremy's voice reached his ears and unfortunately Elena's too.

Elena frowned. Her eyebrows converged over her narrowed eyes, "so which one is it?" she asked in a testy voice that seemed to have very extreme effects on Stefan, who froze right on the spot, mouthing wordlessly and if it wasn't for Damon's immediate assistance he would probably be forced to spend the rest of his evening commenting on towels.

"Both" said Damon, giving a very discreet notch at his brother's ribs, "we couldn't agree on just one" he smiled innocently.

Elena withdrew her gaze from Stefan and stared at Damon with the same expression of utmost disbelief.

"All right" she sighed at last, "have fun"

When the time for Elena to leave had come, Jeremy threw the TV remote on the couch and ran past Stefan and after his sister. He finally caught up with her at the gate and was very relieved to see her turn around after he called her name.

"Is Bonnie going to help you with the towels today?" he panted, getting in front of her.

The grin faded off of Elena's face and she was clearly very taken aback by this question so in order to avoid raising any red flags, he added immediately, "I just want to ask her a favor, will she be with you tonight?"

Elena shifted uncomfortably her weight from one foot to the other several times and kept running her fingers through her hair, just like every time she was put under a lot of stress.

"No," her voice quivered "she is actually visiting relatives out of town" she kissed Jeremy on the forehead and departed.


	4. A Very Kol Week

The first day of his senior year came on September 10th. A day Jeremy had been dreading since the end of June as the previous school year was still distinctly carved into his memory and the beginning of a new one was an added reason for nightmares rather than a cause for celebration.

The only good side in that otherwise horrible fix was that Elena had officially left for college, bringing a nice air of change upon the life in the boarding house. For starters, Stefan was now gone missing a lot more often than he used to, which limited the hours Jeremy had to spend locked up in his bedroom, avoiding him and his lectures regarding college and future and significant life choices.

Also, Damon had stopped being as controlling since it was usually just the two of them in the house, meaning that nobody was around to judge his lack of parenting skills.

And of course, ever since Elena moved out of town, Jeremy had a get-out-of-jail-free card to hang out with Kol whenever he wanted without having to jump out of windows. Damon most certainly did mind knowing that his ward was spending at least ten hours per day in the unhealthy company of Mystic Fall's biggest lunatic, but he would usually avoid saying anything since he could still recall what happened the last time he attempted to break them off.

"If I swear to not see Kol ever again, can you compel me out of this school year?" asked Jeremy in a moment of weakness, during that day's breakfast.

Stefan almost choked on his coffee and even Damon lowered his newspaper to take a quick look at him.

"Are you seriously willing to go so low?" he asked him, impressed at how much Jeremy must've hated school.

The boy sighed.

"I can go lower" he said and kept breaking the waffles in his plate using his fork, seemingly unable to take a bite.

Stefan drenched his mug without saying a word and left the kitchen as fast as he could. He felt guilty, hence the waffles he made, for leaving Jeremy all alone as he supposedly graduated high school last year for the seventeenth time.

* * *

Bonnie had still not answered to any of his e-mails and that could only mean one thing, she was in trouble. However, Jeremy decided to not speak a word to Damon about his suspicions after Kol had convinced him to give the matter some time before blabbering to everyone for what could be a non-existing problem.

"You have serious trust issues" pouted Jeremy after Damon had forcefully stuffed him in his car in order to drive him to school.

A year in Jeremy's company was enough for Damon to make the following assumption: Jeremy Gilbert was a runner and he was well known amongst his friends and family to pull the craziest stunts while being put under pressure and with the first day of school now only minutes away he was not willing to take a risk.

Damon stopped the car right in front of the school's entrance.

"When raising a teenager, trust issues are just good thinking" smirked Damon and jerked his head toward the boy, staring at him expectantly, "you know the drill"

The boy heaved a deep sigh and in a voice of utmost gloom and boredom he began chanting like a broken record the main Salvatore order, "_I'll sit on my ass until the end of classes even if the whole building drops in my head and crashes every inch of my body_"

"And if you don't?" Damon raised his eyebrows, a suspicion of a smile twitching at the sides of his lips.

Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"You'll put me up for adoption…in Texas"

Damon smiled and leaned over Jeremy to open the car door on Jeremy's side.

"Have fun in school" he said and shoved the boy out of the car.

Mixed cheers of students reuniting with their friends and antagonists after a full summer were coming from every direction within a ten miles range. A pack of sophomore girls were sitting by the main entrance, staring at the rest of the students like a pack of hungry wolfs eyeing their delicious victims and commenting on every person coming through the gates, categorizing the new arrivals to "cool kids", "nerds" and "freaks".

The basketball court was already packed with jocks, playing a friendly game before the first bell and the cafeteria was filled by mostly half-asleep teachers that were probably already on some sort of hard medication in order to survive the single most horrible day of the year without committing suicide or child abuse.

And there he was. Standing in the middle of the parking lot, grinning from ear to ear like the proud owner of a white straitjacket was Kol Mikaelson, holding what had to be a textbook.

"Dude" Jeremy lifted his arms halfway before dropping them, "what are you doing here?"

Kol walked the distance between himself and his friend, the brilliant smile on his face stretching further with every step.

"You didn't think I was going to miss out on all the fun" he said, looking around like a child visiting Disneyland for a first time and seeing all the cool rides.

The excitement Jeremy felt when he first saw Kol as if evaporated out of his pores within seconds and was instead replaced with a strange feeling of anger and disappointment.

"So you're here to prey on my misery?" he pouted.

Kol let out a sharp laugh that reminded Jeremy the bark of a happy pit-bull.

"On the contrary my little human friend, I'm here to share it" he winked at Jeremy while fixing the knot on his own tie –the reason why he chose to wear a tie, still a mystery. "We are classmates!"

Jeremy's stomach contracted as he blinked several times, his mouth dry, opening and closing without a word capable to slip out of it.

"You're joking" he said tremulously at last, his eyes shining with every last bit of hope he could muster.

Kol took a dramatic step backwards, bringing both his hands over his heart, clearly very insulted by Jeremy's tone.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you don't want me here" he kept grasping his heart and breathing in what he thought was a very dramatic way.

"Dude…" started Jeremy using the same tone his father had every time Jeremy was threatening to hold his breath until his father would finally cave and buy him the cool new toy he saw in some commercial.

"No, I refuse to believe you don't want me here" Kol cut him off in a very dignified voice, "I refuse to believe you don't want your best and must I add- _your only _friend in this adventure. Am I right, Mr. Gilbert-Salvatore or whatever you call yourself nowadays?"

It's been a few weeks since Damon had signed the final legal documents to officially adopt Jeremy and though his last name was still Gilbert, Kol would never pass a good chance to make fun of the fact he was now partly a Salvatore.

"It's Gilbert" the boy corrected him through clenched teeth, "and yes, my one and only friend, it is great to have you in this great adventure" he bowed mockingly in front Kol and watched him as he did the same, though Kol's bow might have had an unnecessarily big amount of sincerity.

"I knew it!" he clapped his hands and wrapped an arm around Jeremy's shoulders, "Mate, I'm epic! I'll be like the coolest student this school has ever seen!"

Those were the last words Kol said to Jeremy before entering the Mystic Fall's high school for that year's first lesson of the day.

Now, when he mentioned the word, epic, Jeremy was smart enough to understand exactly what he meant. Kol was about to make every person inside these walls suffer in the best, most honest, most terrifying way he knew how: by being himself.

By the end of the day, Kol had been expelled seven times, owned countless detention slips, brought three people to tears, including Mr. Thomas the janitor and caused a teacher to swallow a whole bottle of her "happy-pills", leaving Kol very satisfied and with a growing sense of accomplishment.

"I'm awesome" he told Jeremy after a quick visit to the vice-principal's office in order to compel his way out of all the detentions.

"You're a dick and a danger to society" retorted Jeremy grumpily.

Kol didn't appear to have heard Jeremy's answer and so he kept walking in the same ruler-of-the-world way.

* * *

The rest of the week didn't improve as it progressed. Kol being the only student-vampire; he was left alone to turn the Mystic Fall's high school into his own private playground.

At first Jeremy didn't mind, if anything he would describe it as amusing watching the youngest Mikaelson create pandemonium to every classroom he stepped in, right before the eyes of the very compelled teachers. All until a very sudden thought crossed his mind. This was his senior year, also known as his last chance to improve his academic downhill and with Kol on his side, taking the role of the little devil on his shoulder; it should be an impossible task.

"Dude," Jeremy stopped walking halfway through the school's parking lot and turned to Kol, who was barely listening to him, his eyes all over a girl that Jeremy only knew by sight. "It's been a month, Bonnie is still missing" he punched the vampire on the arm in attempt to get his attention back.

Kol bared his pointy teeth, indicating that Jeremy should think twice before touching him again, though as the boy was far from intimidated he hurried to cover them in case somebody was watching.

"Bonnie is missing and I'm done waiting. I'll tell Damon everything tonight"

"She is not missing" said Kol with a yawn, a little too unconcerned about something that Jeremy had been stressing over for the last few weeks.

"Then why hasn't she answered to a single one of my seventy-eight e-mails?"

"Oh I don't know" said Kol tapping his lip, pretending to give the matter a certain amount of consideration "maybe it's because you're the creepy ex who sent her seventy-eight e-mails! Face it, she is avoiding you! Now get over yourself and find a new girl to stalk!"

For a second Jeremy's jaw dropped but he swiftly recovered before Kol noticed his reaction. He never thought of that possibility. Yes, he and Bonnie had been broken up for over a year but their relationship had still been nothing but friendly. Why would Bonnie ignore him?

"She is not ignoring me…" he said indignantly but Kol was done listening, his attention now back at the girl's behind.

* * *

Coming home from school and completely ready to at last fess up the whole truth to Damon and possibly Stefan, Jeremy stumbled upon a very intriguing situation that for a second made him forget about Bonnie for a first time in weeks.

Damon and Stefan were unusually quiet, choosing to spend their Friday evening playing a game of chess, while each enjoying a glass of bourbon.

This state of harmony was not a typical day at the Salvatores, not by a long shot.

When Damon wasn't locked up in the garage like some Dr. Frankenstein copycat, working on his super-evil-super-secret plans and when Stefan wasn't sitting in his bedroom reading some book for a millionth time, the two Salvatore brothers would waste their eternity by barking and bickering over the tiniest details like an old married couple.

Seeing the two of them sitting so peacefully in an arm reach of each other made Jeremy feel somewhat nervous and uncomfortable for it was sure beyond doubt that something horribly wrong was happening.

Regretting his decision just as he made it, Jeremy took a brave step forward, standing now inches away from the wooden chessboard in the Salvatore library.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, choosing to use his casual voice.

"Mhm…" murmured Damon though Jeremy suspected this wasn't an answer to his question, rather than a comment on Stefan taking his second knight off the chessboard.

Jeremy threw a searching look around the library and over to the two vampires who kept acting as if he didn't exist and decided to get a move on before the disaster caught up with him.

His mind still travelling back at the two vampires and the unnatural silence of the house, Jeremy made it to his room and at once opened his computer. He only had an hour to check his e-mails before meeting Kol back at his place for a 'Breaking Bad' marathon that would probably last them the whole weekend.

Bracing himself for another disappointment and another empty inbox, Jeremy typed in his password almost mechanically.

His eyes widened in horror and thrill as Bonnie's name popped up first on his screen.


	5. Go Nuts

"Jeremy, if you don't want to do it all you have to do is say the words" was the way Damon started off Wednesday morning.

The Salvatores were sitting inside the lounge next to the lit fireplace, both facing Jeremy with the same expression of utmost exasperation.

"But I want to do it…" said Jeremy, drumming nervously at the sides of his armchair.

"Are you sure?" Stefan persisted.

That same conversation had been going non-stop for the past week and a half, ever since Stefan received a suspicious phone call from Elena, which content of surprisingly he chose to share with his brother.

"Guys, you do realize I'm actually happy to get rid both of you at once…right?" It was true, Jeremy's one and only wish had been granted, the Salvatores had to spend at least one night away from home and with the whole Bonnie mystery clouding over his mind lately, this couldn't have come at a better time.

"The feelings are mutual" assured him Damon, his eyes twitching in what he hoped to look like his typical snarky approach to everything. However, truth was he liked less than Stefan the idea of leaving Jeremy all by himself, especially after what happened the last time he made the mistake to trust a hormonal teenager with his house.

"But in case you decide to throw a party in a momentary lapse of judgment, I suggest you use the skills I taught you to hide, and hide well, because if I find you—" Damon lifted himself up and leaned over the coffee table, going directly for the creepiest kind of eye contact.

Jeremy never found out what would happen to him if he decided to throw a party, as he dared to speak first, though whatever it was that Damon was about to say, the boy was sure it couldn't have been worse than the time he threatened to take away his Wi-Fi. Now that was a threat Jeremy would never even consider to mess with.

"Damon, a party requires friends" he pointed out in a slightly bitter tone, "and you're in luck, 'cause I have none"

"What about Kol?" Stefan shot at him, almost accusatively.

Jeremy made a valiant effort to defend himself but Damon shushed him right away.

"That said," he sat back next to Stefan and squeezed tightly his glass of breakfast-bourbon, "Kol Mikaelson is banned from this house, so don't even think about bringing him in here"

Normally, Jeremy at this point would have nodded and end this unbelievable dull conversation, as he started feeling a little hungry and couldn't wait to pay the fridge a visit, but he didn't. It was a known fact that when Jeremy was hungry, bad decisions were made or in this case…very bad decisions.

"No" he said and watched as Stefan hid his face inside his hands, unwilling to witness the rest.

"What did you say?" began Damon in a rather calm voice after he downed his drink, the same calm voice he saved for only when Jeremy had managed to reach a brand new level of trouble.

Jeremy didn't flinch, which deep in his heart Damon couldn't help but respect.

"I said no" he repeated with the same ease, trying his best to ignore Stefan's little wimpy cry, "Let's face it, I could totally pull this off behind your back and yet I chose to be honest, that must count for something"

Damon's eyes were now having a malicious, crazed glow which reminded immediately Jeremy the time when Damon busted a kid nail the side mirror of his car with a ball.

"Which part of 'my house, my rules' is giving you hard time to get through that thick head of yours? Because I'd be more than happy to explain with my foot up your ass"

Jeremy gave a small, sarcastic clap but then he wisely chose to stop.

"I'm completely terrified" he said instead using a false girly voice, followed by a self-satisfied grin that he could only have taken from Kol, making him wonder if he was starting to spend a little too much time around the vampire. "I know you guys have to leave either way, so unless you two are planning on locking me down at the cellar –again— I'll do whatever I want and you will just have to trust me"

For a moment of absolute terror Jeremy felt in power to read minds, as he watched Stefan lift his head and exchange a suspicious look with his brother, clearly both contemplating on the pros and cons of locking Jeremy in the cellar.

Thankfully by the end they decided not to as there was a ninety-nine percent chance Jeremy would be able to escape in the first two hours of lockdown. However, they didn't feel the immediate need to share that small but rather important detail with Jeremy until the very last moment.

* * *

"I left you enough food for two days, so, don't try to cook anything" said Stefan on the morning of their departure, staring down at Jeremy in that annoying 'you-know-what-I'm-talking-about' kind of look

That look had in fact become a Stefan-favorite lately and it was first seen three months ago when Jeremy made his first ever (and last) attempt to cook dinner, which resulted in a burned down kitchen and two weeks of reconstructions. Nowadays, the look was used in the frequent situation when Stefan wanted to prove that Jeremy Gilbert was indeed an idiot.

"Your allergy meds are on top of the fridge, don't forget to take them" he continued in the same manner and added, "and don't bother looking for alcohol. I counted and locked away each and every one of the bottles, so if anything goes miraculously missing, I'll know"

Stefan gave Jeremy a last 'get-your-shit-together' glare and walked through the front door in order to load his bag in the car. Damon had already left his and was now re-entering the hallway, his turn to give his own warnings.

"Gun" he demanded sharply before Jeremy had the chance to move.

The boy indicated his belt, where was as usual hanging his favorite eight millimeter handgun that Damon got him for Christmas last year.

"Bourbon" continued Damon in the same abrupt and sharp tone.

Jeremy took a moment to fill his lungs with air and said in one breath, "I know better than to touch it if I decide to go against my best instincts and touch it, you have every right and blessing to bury me alive in a hole I'll have to dig myself without using a shovel"

"Invite"

"Nobody"

"Strangers"

"Shoot first, ask questions later"

Satisfied by the answers enough to smile, Damon placed his hand on top of Jeremy's head.

"Good boy" he slightly pulled the boy's hair, before taking a step back, a smirk on his face "go nuts"

* * *

It wasn't five minutes since Damon and Stefan pulled off the driveway, when a knock came from the front door, followed immediately by a second one twice as hard and demanding.

Jeremy rolled his eyes, as he didn't have to open the door to know exactly who was standing at the threshold.

He crossed the living room in a few steps, jumped over the two little steps and made to the entrance, where he could now hear more clearly that ever, a third knock on the door that nearly brought the whole thing down.

He didn't bother asking for a name and hurried to open the door before Kol destroyed the house he was responsible for less than ten minutes.

"Mate, prepare yourself for the best weekend of your life!"


End file.
